Janet Dewart Bell ’74, ’15 (Maryland, BA and GSLC, PhD; and a member of Antioch’s Board of Governors) has published a new book entitled Blackbirds Singing: Inspiring Black Women’s Speeches From the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century (The New Press, 2024). The book features an uplifting collection of speeches by African American women, which were curated by Dewart Bell.
In an article published on Women’s Media Center Dewart Bell wrote:
“Blackbirds Singing: Inspiring Black Women’s Speeches From the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century (The New Press), contains speeches and quotations from African American women in the context of the struggle for freedom and justice. Because Black women were prohibited and then inhibited from being involved in the political system, the book expands the definition of speeches to some writings that women did not have the opportunity to present in a public forum. The lives of all of these courageous women are worthy of volumes to capture the fullness of their lived experiences. It is my hope that their words in this collection inspire readers to learn more and to embrace the full meaning of their struggles, leadership, and contributions to this country and the dream of democracy. And, yes, the title of my book was inspired by Paul McCartney’s song Blackbird, a tribute to the American Civil Rights Movement, specifically the Little Rock Nine.”
Dewart Bell is a social justice activist. She founded the Derrick Bell Lecture on Race in American Society series at the New York University School of Law. Her previous book Lighting the Fires of Freedom: African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement, was nominated for an NAACP Image Award. She is the co-editor (with Vincent M. Southerland) of Carving Out a Humanity and Race, Rights, and Redemption (both published by The New Press).
Learn more about Dewart Bell and read her dissertation African American Women Leaders in the Civil Rights Movement: A Narrative Inquiry here.